Curbing the Taliban's multimillion dollar opium poppy business was a major goal of a military operation to seize this former insurgent stronghold. With the town in NATO hands, the Marines face a conundrum: If they destroy the crops and curb the trade, they lose the support of the population — a problem for which they have no easy solution.

Webmaster's Commentary:

So now that the US/NATO forces control Marjah, what do they also control?!?

They now control the drug trade, which includes where the drugs wind up.

As reported on 12 March, 20910 in

http://www.realclearworld.com/news/ap/international/2010/Mar

"Russia's envoy to NATO has sharply criticized the alliance's battle with drug trafficking in Afghanistan, saying it has led to a surge in heroin smuggling that is endangering Russia's national security."

"Russia "is losing 30,000 lives a year to the Afghan drug trade, and a million people are addicts," Rogozin said. "This is an undeclared war against our country."

Coincidence?!? I think not. The introduction of cheap, illegal drugs to a country is one way of destabilizing a country without firing a shot.